Nov. 21, 2009

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Senior Amanda Kemezys scored 16 points and junior Lauren Woods added 12, but hot-shooting Butler registered a 69-57 non-conference victory over Saint Louis Saturday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.

Kemezys tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds, four offensive, as the Billikens (1-2) edged the Bulldogs (2-1) 35-33 on the boards overall and 20-11 on the offensive glass. Katie Paganelli added five and Nicole Johnson grabbed a career-high five.

Butler appeared to take control with an 8-0 run early in the second half that gave the Bulldogs a 43-35 lead at the 14:03 mark. But Saint Louis regained its defensive edge and fashioned an 8-0 spurt of its own on two free throws by Woods and buckets by Kemezys, freshman Mallory Eggert and Johnson.

An Alyssa Pittman layup with 10:07 left gave Butler the lead for good, and a pair of Susan Lester free throws made it 47-43. After Eggert and Claire Freeman traded baskets, freshman Ashley Hanlen tallied her first collegiate points on a 3-pointer from the right corner to pull the Bills to within a point, 49-48, with 8:11 to play.

The Billikens stopped Butler on the Bulldogs' next possession but couldn't capitalize. Chloe Hamilton and Kemezys exchanged field goals, then Pittman buried a trey and Lester scored underneath to make it 56-50 Butler with 5:23 left.

Freshman Jacy Bradley canned a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the Butler lead in half. Lester missed a 3-point attempt, but SLU suffered a turnover, and this time Lester connected on a trey to give the Bulldogs a 59-53 edge with 3:34 remaining.

Each team then committed a pair of turnovers. Paganelli turned the second Butler miscue into a fast-break layup that narrowed the Bulldog lead to 59-55, and the Billikens then forced a Butler miss. But a turnover on the ensuing possession prevented Saint Louis from drawing closer, and the Bulldogs recorded a basket and two free throws on their next two possessions for a 63-55 advantage. Kemezys scored in close, but a conventional 3-point play by Terra Burns with 27 seconds left put the game away for the visitors.

SLU raced to a 10-3 lead in the first 2:36 of the game, with Kemezys and Woods scoring four points apiece. Later, Butler assembled a 10-0 outburst, punctuated by 3-pointers from Freeman and Pittman, to claim an 18-15 edge with 10:31 left. Several lead changes and six ties ensued, and neither team led by more than three points the rest of the half, which ended in a 31-all deadlock.

Lester led all scorers with 18 points, including 13 in the second half, and was joined in double figures by Pittman (13) and Brittany Bowen (11). Becca Bornhorst and Pittman led the Butler rebounding effort with eight and six boards, respectively. The Bulldogs shot 58.3 percent following the break and finished the game at 52.2 percent, while the Bills were held to 35 percent for the contest.

Saint Louis travels to Los Angeles for the Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by Loyola Marymount, Nov. 27-28. The Billikens take on the host team Friday at 3 p.m. (CT) and will face Montana or South Florida Saturday at either 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. (CT).